Utrecht

Rudolf von Diepholz (b.1377), also known as Rudolf van Diepholt or Roeloff van Diephout, purportedly traced a direct line of descent from the original Gottshalk von Diepholz (1160). He was one of at least 4 children of Johann von Diepholz and Kunigunde, Countess of Oldenburg. [1]

In October 1406, Rudolf was acclaimed Bishop of Minden by the local citizenry on the death of Bishop Otto IV von Rietburg, in October 1406. The local nobility disputed this choice and, entering town under the protection of the Lunebergers with an escort of 300 horsemen, Wilbrand von Hallemund was successfully instated in the episcopal seat. This gave rise to a four year feud, but on that occasion the 29 year old Rudolf did not prevail. [2]

He again rose to fame in 1423, as a pretender for the Bishopric of Utrecht, following the death of Bishop Frederick van Blankenheim. Utrecht at that time was one of a number of ecclesiastical principalities in Northern Europe in which the Prince-Bishop acted as head of state, and included not only the present-day Dutch province of Utrecht, but also the northern provinces of Groningen, Drenthe and Overijssel. Two local families, the Lichtenbergers and the Lockhorsten, had long been engaged in a violent power struggle. On 9th November 1423 the electoral college, comprising local canons, assembled in the chapterhouse by the Cathedral and, under the influence of the Beernt Proys, the Burgomeester or Chief Alderman, who had married into the Lichtenberger family, they elected Rudolf as Bishop.

"Christ before Pilate" from the Culemborg Book of Hours

The Lockhorsten had a powerful ally in Philip of Burgundy, who in turn had strong papal connections. As a result, Pope Martin V refused to recognise Rudolf and appointed Rabanus, Bishop of Speyer, instead. In the ensuing tussle, which led to a schism lasting on and off for the next twenty-five years, Rabanus promptly resigned and the Pope replaced him with the cathedral provost of Utrecht, Zweder van Culemborg. The scene is immortalised by an illustration in a contemporaneous illuminated missal depicting the Pope (later Saint) Martin at prayer together with the newly appointed Bishop. An image of this illustration has not been found, but a plate from the contemporaneous Culemborg “Book of Hours” is shown adjacent by way of example. [3]

In the convoluted politics of the time the intervention of a mere Pope was not sufficient to keep the Lichtenbergers down. Zweder was prevented from entering Utrecht, along with the Lockhorsten, who went on a killing rampage throughout the state. On 21st August 1425, a group of their followers (said to be members of the Utrecht Butchers’ Guild) broke into Burgomeester Beernt Proys' house and murdered the old man on his sick bed. Proys' sons were also banished. They had their revenge the following May, on Whit Sunday, when fifteen nobles disguised as monks - including the knight Jan V van Renesse whose family had been linked to the Lichtenbergers by marriage for more than a century - took over the city in a surprise coup and proclaimed Rudolf as the new bishop. [4] Rudolf also later disbanded the Butchers’ Guild and razed their headquarters.

The murder of Beernt Proys

Rudolf's appointment was again repudiated by the Pope and fighting continued across the region. On the night of 23^rd February 1428, Rudolf launched another surprise attack on Zweder, apparently trying unsucessfully to poison him. One unfortunate follower of his was Jan van Buren, the priest of Aken en St Marie, who in the same action led a troop of men into the nearby city of Culemborg. They were beaten back, and as they fled the city he hid himself in a sewer. He was caught by a bunch of fishmongers’ wives who brought him to the Fishmarket where he was hung on a hook and literally cut to pieces. The fishmongers’ wives wore blue aprons and to this day the citizens of Culemborg are called the "Blauwlappen" or Bluecloths. [5] It was not until Zweder's death in 1433, when Pope Eugene IV nominated Zweder's brother Walraf of Mors (aka Walraven van Meurs) as bishop, that neighbouring secular rulers took part in the quarrel over the diocese, leading to the general recognition of Rudolf and a temporary end to the schism. He was instated first in a religious ceremony, with a solemn high mass and “te deum” in the church of St Michael, and then in a civil ceremony at the town hall, where the privileges of “sovereign lord” were formally bestowed. The following year he attempted to mollify the Duke of Burgundy by granting him power “to arrest by his bailiffs all drunken and fighting priests, and deliver them up to the bishop, who promises not to discharge them till satisfaction shall have been given to the duke.” [6]
Safely ensconced in his See, he now settled down to the serious task of making lots of money, managing his estates and acquiring new ones, such as Blanckenborch (Haaksbergen) from Reynolt van de Roer in 1449. As bishop, he even issued his own coins! These included guilders, ironically depicting not Rudolf himself but his arch-enemy Pope Martin V. Fittingly, these coins contained just over half the fine gold weight prescribed for guilders, and were exchanged for only 12½ Stuiver (instead of the usual 20). Rudolf’s silver double-groats, minted at Deventer, did however show the Diepholz coat of arms on the anverse. [7]		Rudolf van Diepholt Guilder
Rudolf van Diepholt Silver Double-Groat	Rudolf was eventually able to repair his fractious relationship with Rome, and on 20Dec1448 Pope Nicolaas V named him as cardinal. Having achieved universal recognition amongst the ecclesiastical authorities, he now faced a new challenge from his subjects, who drove him out in a dispute over taxes and political power. He returned in 1449 under force of arms. In the same year, in a twist of loyalties which remains unexplained, he banished the brothers Johann and Frederik van Renesse (successors to Jan van Renesse, who had fought on his side in 1425) and the following year he destroyed Rhijnauwen castle, their ancestral seat.

He added the Bishopric of Osnabrück to his collection in 1454 (where his younger brother, Johann III, Graf von Diepholz, had also served as the 44th Bishop from 1424-1437), and died on 24Mar1455. His body was buried in the Cathedral Church ("Domkerk") of Utrecht, where his tomb brassplate depicting the Diepholz coat of arms can still be seen in the chapel named after him. [8] Curiously, his bowels appear to have been buried separately, at the Church of St Nicholas, in Vollenhove, which he had earlier endowed with a large silver cross. He is still honoured by a street named after him in the town. [8a]

Bishop he may have been twice over but Rudolf was certainly no saint. He is said to have fathered several children who became part of the Utrecht nobility and members of the Government. A record has been found an imputed daughter, Anna, who married Gijsbert die Gruyter, a councillor of Utrecht from 1429-1439. Gijsbert was appointed as Rudolf's bailiff ("Rentmeester") in 1448, whether before or after the marriage it is not known.

Other connections with Utrecht are found through Rudolf's three nephews Johan, Konrad III and Otto. Johan von Diepholz (Jan van Diepholt), was born in 1417. He married a Dutchwoman, Elsabe van Ittersum. Konrad III was a canon at Utrecht before becoming Bishop of Osnabrück from 1455-1482. Otto reinforced the ties with the Netherlands by marrying Heilwig van Bronckhorst on 3rd July 1441. Otto and Heilwig had at least five children one of whom, Rudolf, married Elisabeth zur Lippe in Lippe, Lemgo in 1480. Their son, Johan, is recorded as a "doctor in both laws" (presumably civil & ecclesiastical). He died in 1519 and was buried in the Utrecht cathedral. [10]

Radboud Castle, Medemblik

There is a possible link between Otto and his later namesake, Otto van Diepholt, who was the commander in chief of the defending forces at the siege of Appingedam, in the province of Groningen. He was captured and held in the Radboud castle at Medemblik on the West-Frisian coast, in 1514. Otto was eventually released in exchange for a pouch of gold. There is also a cluster who settled around Emden, East Frisia, some of whom are buried in the ‘Gasthaus’ (hospital) church. The church was completely lost in a fire in 1938. [9]

Later in the same century Konrad (known as "Coenraet van Diepholt"), became Marshall of Utrecht and Castellan of Abcoude from 1540 on. By this time, Utrecht had lost its independence; in 1528, secular rule had been handed over to Charles V, Lord of the Netherlands, King of Spain, and emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, by the last bishop-sovereign, Hendrik of Bavaria. Konrad died in 1572. His children included Floris van Diepholt (whose daughter Maria married Geraert van Elderborn, a captain in the cavalry) and Francisca van Diepholt (who married Johan van Amerongen, Chief Burger of Utrecht). [11]

Abcoude Castle

Stray references to various “van Diepholt” and “van Diefholt” family members crop up in registries over the following centuries, however there is insufficient data to link them into the line of descent. These include one corporal Jan van Diefholt who, according to court records, was unfortunate enough to suffer "assault, battery and stabbing" at the hands of one Cornelis Sebastiaensen, also known as the "mad barber of Poppel", in 1662! [12]

Alongside the sporadic references to [van] Diepholt, there are more abundant references to [van] Diephout including a continuous family line dating from 1595 to the late 1800s (and in all probability beyond), spanning seven generations. It seems certain that the families are related (“hout” being the Dutch equivalent of “holt”, or wood/forest). Note also that Rudolf van Diepholt is referred to in documents as Roeloff van Diepholt, Roelof van Diephout, and variants. [13] Apart from Rudolf, the first van Diephout mentioned is Lubbert, born circa 1595. The following century, Reinier van Diephout (born 1641), a medical doctor, made his name as a minor literary philosopher belonging to a small group of Dutch intellectuals. He developed a thesis on comic rhetoric and comic literature, drawing on readings from Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilianus [14].

In 1713, Jan Marcusse Diephout appears upon the scene. He was a mariner for the Dutch East India Company and was cited in various documents at the Cape Town Archives Depository [15]. The first documents relate to a hearing into the cause of a hole in the hull of the Bentvelt on which Jan had sailed on its return journey from Ceylon, arriving in the Cape on 6^th March. The cargo included cardamons which had been tainted by seawater, and there was some discussion as to their recovery by soaking them in fresh water before drying them out again. There was also debate as to the seaworthiness of the vessel and the wisdom of allowing it to continue its voyage back to Amsterdam.

1713 was not a good year to be hanging around in the Cape; one of the worst smallpox outbreaks on record wiped out “200 out of 570 slaves and quarter of the Europeans in Cape Town” [16]. Jan stayed in the Cape for two months, and arrived back in the Netherlands in August that year. The Bentvelt, incidentally, was later one of 7 vessels used in the Dutch expedition against the Zamorin of Calicutt (Dec 1716 to Apr 1717), but it is not known whether Jan was involved.

In 1724 Jan was promoted to Master of the Graveland, which he took to Batavia and back, stopping over in Cape Town on the return voyage in 1725 [17]. He completed another return voyage to Batavia as master of the Karsenhof between November 1726 and July 1728. He is last mentioned in records as master of the Midloo, which arrived in Batavia in February 1730. The ship had set off nine months earlier from Amsterdam with a crew of 139 seamen and with 80 soldiers onboard. Of these, 40 seamen and 24 soldiers died en route. [18]

It has not yet been possible to document any link between the Deefholts family and the van Diepholts or Diephouts.

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